Manufacturers in Northern Michigan need employees with specific skills in order to grow.

An effort to meet that demand is under way with the purchase of a mobile training laboratory to be used in a four-county region that would allow for at least 60 new jobs to be created in the Boyne City business park and an estimated 300 others across the rest of the region.

Industry in the region expressed a specific need for trained computer numerical control (CNC) machine tool operators and programmers. In response to that need, North Central Michigan College, in partnership with the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance, the intermediate school district, tribe, numerous manufacturers and Ferris State University, has proposed the purchase of a self-contained mobile manufacturing training lab.

The mobile unit would include 12 state-of-the-art computers and design programs, as well as CNC-controlled equipment. It would be transported to area manufacturers and schools, on a scheduled basis, in order to train both existing workers and high school and college students in CNC skills. Training received through the lab would coincide with local manufacturers' needs and lead to students receiving a nationally recognized certificate in CNC manufacturing.

Charlevoix County will apply for a $350,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in order to cover the full cost of the lab and North Central Michigan College plans to own, administrate and staff it. The lab will be used in a four-county area -- Charlevoix, Emmet, Cheboygan and Antrim counties.

In order for the county to be eligible to receive the full amount of the grant from the state, one or several local businesses must commit to expanding and hiring additional employees.

Kniss and his surgical product manufacturing company in Boyne City has promised to create 60 new jobs over the course of the next two and a half years, enough to allow the county to qualify for all $350,000 needed for the lab.

"We need people with a machine technology background in order to hire employees," explained Kniss on how the training lab will allow for his company's expansion. "North America has a huge shortage of machining employees. It's a bigger problem than just Precision Edge."

Kniss expressed his desire to convey to parents and grandparents that a career in manufacturing is not what it once was and is, in fact, a viable way to support a family. He hopes the lab will serve not only as a tool for training employees, but also for marketing life-long careers to potential employees.

"Shops are neat, clean, they offer good benefits. They're just good places to work. A mobile lab can show what manufacturing is today," Kniss said.

The University of Michigan forecasts that manufacturing will be responsible for more than 25 percent of all new jobs in Michigan over the next two years.

The Northern Lakes Economic Alliance, based in Boyne City, surveyed Northern Michigan businesses in Charlevoix, Emmet, Antrim and Cheboygan counties and found that 20 businesses will be seeking to hire 300 employees with CNC manufacturing skills in the next two years. All 20 of those businesses indicated there are not currently enough skilled workers available in the region to fill those jobs.

"There is strong financial support from these manufacturers to assist in delivering the skills needed to these applicants and employees," said Tom Erhart, entrepreneurship director of the economic alliance. "Manufacturing in general is returning from overseas, specifically Asia. A lot of American companies that initially went there to have products manufactured are deciding that they want to do their manufacturing back in the U.S., so they're slowly, but surely, bringing that back."